Tilkunviilaaja®

Today’s splendid tips topic isn’t just one colour, but all the colours – and all at once. In this post, you will see – again – what matters more for your quilt than colour choices do. You will also get seven tips that help you use a multitude of (or all) colours in your quilt while avoiding a chaotic look. What to watch out for when using many colours? My instant reaction to this question is: “nothing!” Though to be honest, there really are a few things to watch out for. If you make a wild, improvisational, unplanned and multicoloured quilt surface, its viewer may not easily find anything there to focus on. If you put such a quilt on show, most of the audience would be likely to move quickly past it to see the next quilt. Even so, a riotously colourful quilt may be fantastic and lovable as an item meant to be used! For example, the overall rhythm of my Spectrolite quilt is inconsistent because some blocks have a really harsh value contrasts whereas others have very little co...

A square is a great shape in quilts. I’m may seem to be stating something obvious because the majority of quilt blocks are square, but this is not the single reason for the square’s greatness. Squares and other straight-edged shapes are easy to handle. In contrast, sewing a flat surface out of curvy shapes is difficult, and thus a great way to show off your sewing skill. One will never be admired for one’s ability to sew squares together! Because quilting is not a competition sport for me, I don’t mind taking things easy. One of the things I love about squares is that when you sew a piece, press and trim it into an exact square, it will be easy to sew together with a similar one and create a flat surface. It takes a bit more time and accurate trimming, but no elite expertise. Just look at these un-pressed, un-trimmed nine-patch pieces and imagine how hard it would be to sew them together like they are here, and avoid the seams turning willy-nilly! Same-sized squares are inter...

Today, my quilt studio diary entry concentrates on a recent zipper bag finish. I gave it a Finnish name first, “Pikkumusta,” which translates directly into “Little Black”. But you may not know that the Finnish word means a little black dress, not anything else that might be black – we just save one word. So, here’s the Little Black quilted zipper bag, basking in the sun. Do you think that cat near the lower edge has closed her eyes because of the sunshine? One in-progress photo first. I took a picture of the zipper bag panels after I’d quilted but not yet trimmed them. And you know what: I didn’t remember to photograph the trimmed pieces! Both panels conveniently featured a scrap showing a round shape (they are really Christmas tree baubles), which inspired me to run a spiral of stitches on the surfaces. It is my second favourite way to quilt zipper bags. By the way, I’ve shared my 21 easy quilting patterns that I choose from when quilting small patchwork surfaces such as z...

My quilt studio has been unusually quiet since mid-August. First, I spent a relaxing summer vacation at a cottage/villa by a small lake, then had a short mini-break in a hotel, and then my first working week included a lot of activity and a few long days. The first quilting project by the lake was a hand-sewing one. I made hexagons out of scraps using the English paper piecing method and cardboard shapes that I've made many years ago. Though most hexies don't have a specific role yet, some are already attached together into small pieces that I’ll later use as details on my zipper bags. Here’s one example: Of course many of the hexies will become the end pieces for the zippers in pouches that I make for my Open series. Second quilting project. Back at home, when I finally had the energy and opportunity, I worked tenaciously to finish all the nine-patch blocks that I still needed for the quilt surface. I cut squares, sewed nine-patches and pressed. Here are the last 16 bl...